#(or scroll depending on translation)

[barkingangelbaby]

I feel like such a broken fucking person lol

I talked way too much in the tags don't read them

[t4tstarvingdog]

AND THEN

[crazilust]

astrology observations pt. 5 (i believe)

remember, if this doesn’t resonate, leave it, scroll away and forget it. i wanted a summer theme, so i’ll do it on this post why not 💛

🐬🍋🌊🌅 🐬🍋🌊🌅 🐬🍋🌊🌅 🐬🍋🌊🌅

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🐬 I wish I could look a Sag sun in the eyes and tell them that no matter how little or big they achieve, they’re worth something. That they don’t have to chase the next big shiny thing, that they don’t have to be a millionaire by age 30, that they don’t have to « be someone » because they’re already someone.

🍋 We’re always talking about how lucky Jupiter natives are and how free spirited they are, but the truth is, Jupiter is also about expansion and sometimes I feel like that expansion translates in a pressure to be exceptional. And in this society, in this world, being exceptional is only valued at a material level. The number of Sag suns that I’ve met that felt like complete failures at like 20 years old is not normal. They’re so harsh on themselves. I wish I could give them all a big hug

🌊 The power of pisces mercury lies in their intuition. As virgo’s sister sign, it makes sense that Pisces mercuries don’t find their answers through logic and evidence-based facts but rather intuition and feelings. It can be hard for them to trust that gut feeling or to feel intelligent cause if someone asks them « well how do you know? » their answers most likely will be « Eh, just a hunch » But trust it, it’s one of your many gifts

🌅 I used to be so fascinated with people with Aries and Gemini in their birth chart cause I found them so comfortable with people, the life of a party type of people and so damn charming. As I grow older though and begin to see life in nuances of grey instead of straight black and white, I’m able to realize that those people often suffer from people-pleasing tendencies, a sense of self that is either broken or fragile and codependent behaviors. It’s like their sense of worth is tied to how much people like them.

🐬 Cancers are very loyal, I know it’s not a popular sign on mainstream medias and people love to shit on them, but the truth is, Cancers will have your back, no matter the placements. If you’re ever loved by a Cancer, make sure to treat them right !

🍋 People who are not that much into astrology will meet a Leo and be like “omg, you don’t act like a Leo at all, you’re not arrogant or an attention whore” When we look at Leos celebrities, it’s easier to see that arrogant, flashy, extra side. But irl, we rarely meet that “kind “of Leos, right? (Except at bars lol) The reason for it, I found, is that Leos, for the most part, have personas. First of all, they’re a lot more private than you’d think. I believe that most Leos loooove attention, but they also know when it’s appropriate to show it or not. Depending on their other placements, they’ll decide when to grab that spotlight and when to leave it to others.

🌊 I had this girl that I knew that was a Leo sun (and I’m sure a bunch of virgo placements) and everybody was shocked of her sun sign because she was introverted, quiet and observant. But she was still a theater girl, wanted to be the main character (preferred the villain), veryyyy assertive when it came to her boundaries or what she liked and didn’t liked, and very extra and colourful in her outfits. The reason why I don’t like mainstream astrology is because it’s a bit childish in the way it describes a sign. You can love attention but show it in a way other than screaming and dancing on tables. This girl, for example. To me, she was a Leo sun to a T.

🌅 Aquarius placements 🤝🏽 their desires to connect with someone through intellectual stimulation, but refusing to show and acknowledge their deep rooted fear of intimacy and vulnerability

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and that’s it from me, folks.

-B.

[khaire-traveler]

The Nine Muses

This is a very simple post about the Muses in hopes of explaining who they are, what their domains are, and some things they may be able to help with. This post isn't a deep dive by any means - just a simple introduction. Enjoy!

Who are the Muses?

The Muses, or Mousai, are goddesses of inspiration for various creative, scientific, and poetic endeavors. They were believed to also have knowledge of all things that have come to pass, remembering events with clarity that mortals could not hope to have. Their names are Kalliope, Kleio, Ourania, Thaleia, Melpomene, Polymnia, Erato, Euterpe, and Terpsikhore.

In total, there are nine Muses. The god Apollon was often believed to be the leader of the Muses, having a very close connection with them. The goddess Artemis was also paired with them.

Their origin and family varied depending on the source, but the most common notion was that Zeus and Mnemosyne are their parents and that they were born at the foot of Mount Olympus. Some other possible parents are Ouranos and Gaia, Zeus and Plousia, Pieros and Antiope, or even Apollon.

Poets of the past used to invoke the names of the Muses in hopes of gaining inspiration and the ability to gracefully convey their words. When a connection was drawn between them and Apollo, they were also known for their prophetic abilities as well, even being said to teach the art of prophecy.

What are each of their domains?

Kalliope - The eldest of the Muses, she is the goddess of eloquence and epic poetry. She is often considered the mother of Orpheus. She was depicted with a tablet, a scroll, or (later on) a lyre. Her name has been translated to mean "beautiful-voiced".

Kleio - Wise and intelligent, she is named the goddess of history. In art, she was often depicted with an open scroll or chest full of books. Her name was translated as "to make famous".

Ourania - Associated with the stars, she is the goddess of astronomy and astronomical writings. She has been depicted pointing at a celestial globe with a rod, but I wasn't able to find more information on her symbols. Her name means "heavenly one".

Thaleia - A goddess that helps bring joy to the world, she is the goddess of comedy and bucolic poetry. She was also considered to be the mother of the Korybantes (a group of seven demigods). She was often depicted with a comedy mask, a shepherd's staff, or a wreath of ivy. Her name has been translated as "festivity" or "blooming".

Melpomene - Holding a domain more somber than the Muse above, she is the goddess of tragedy. She was named the mother of the Sirens by Apollodorus. She was depicted with a tragedy mask, a sword, a wreath of ivy, or cothurnus boots. Her name likely means "to celebrate with song (and dance)".

Polymnia - With a name meaning "many hymns" or "many praises", it's no surprise that she's the goddess of religious hymns. She was often portrayed in a meditative pose.

Erato - A Muse that needs no introduction, she is the goddess of erotic poetry and mime. She was often portrayed with a lyre. Her name means "lovely" or "beloved".

Euterpe - Likely full of rhymes and reasons, she is the goddess of lyric poetry. She was often depicted with a double flute. Her name likely means "well pleasing" or "giver of much delight".

Terpsikhore - Filled with music, she is the goddess of choral song and dancing. She was often depicted with a lyre and plectrum. Her name has been translated to "delighting in dance".

Kalliope - Speaking presentations, writing essays, script reading, reading/writing informational posts/articles/etc., interpreting poetry, poetry writing/reading, sharing your own poetry, communicating clearly with others, important conversations, coping with conflicts, addressing conflicts, making peace with others.

What are some things they can help with specifically?

***These are merely suggestions.***

Kleio - History exams/tests, studying classics/history, delving into your own history, discovering family history, recalling past events, writing myth retellings or similar, identifying patterns of behavior, releasing the past, learning from the past, finding hope for the future.

Ourania - Studying the stars/space, story-telling, understanding the universe around us, memorizing constellations, finding peace in the night, finding hope in the darkness, creating goals for yourself, "reaching for the stars", holding onto your wishes, finding a sense of direction.

Thaleia - Creating your own joy, finding what makes you happy, performing stand-up comedy, writing any form of comedy, play-writing, healthy positivity, learning to laugh things off, releasing stress/burdens, moving forward, expressing your joy.

Melpomene - Coping with hardships, moving through difficult times, releasing the past, forgiving oneself, coping with past mistakes/regret, healing from difficult events, coping with the "downs" of life, play-writing, telling tragic tales, addressing difficult topics sensitively.

Polymnia - Writing devotional poetry/hymns/songs/etc., growing closer with religion/devotion, inspiration for offerings/devotional acts, coping with religious difficulties, finding comfort/joy in religion, connecting with the divine, religious/spiritual writings, connecting with your practice.

Erato - Love letters, confessing your feelings through writings/songs/etc., connecting with sexuality, writing/reading erotic stories, communicating sexual needs, establishing/discovering sexual boundaries, sex positivity (especially through literature), embracing your sexual interests.

Euterpe - Writing poetry, interpreting poetry, communicating one's emotions, romanticizing life, sharing poetry with others, devotional poetry, expressing one's feelings through writing, processing emotions, finding the "right word" for a piece you're writing.

Terpsikhore - Song-writing, learning to dance, expressing yourself through dance/song, connecting with music, processing feelings with musical aid, instrument playing, choral/instrumental performances, writing a musical, musical theater, finding your voice, embracing who you are, expressing yourself.

[ruibaozha]

The Inconsistency of Nezha's Age, a Short Introduction.

Put very bluntly, Nezha’s age varies greatly depending on which story you’re reading and who’s retold it. He is not always a child or an adult depending on retelling, though my intention here is to highlight the sheer variety available first and foremost - and perhaps shine a light on the Indian dieties which may have influenced him. If these varied images are unwanted, please keep scrolling.

I happened to stumble upon a timeline error where Nezha’s brother Muzha is described to be using martial arts weapons referred to as “Hooks of Wu” which were specific to the 1800s, quite a long time after Canonization of the Gods was published, but also originating from a time period where numerous varied editions of that story were in circulation. Upwards of twenty different versions exclusive to the 19th century, actually.

The problem arises that Canonization of the Gods is meant to be occurring during the Zhou Shang conflict, that I will generously assume to be in 1045BCE, centuries before the Hooks of Wu would actually exist. It’s completely possible that the version Gu Zhizhong translated was one of these later editions as is makes no chronological sense for Muzha to have those kinds of weapons to begin with. So I have been on somewhat of a rabbit chase trying to pin down the edition Gu Zhizhong used.

Bearing such errors in mind, it’s easy to see where the confusion of Nezha’s age can come from. Before his origin story was integrated within Canonization of the Gods he would be roughly three to seven days old when his conflict with Ao Guang and the Lady Rock Demoness would occur - whereas within Canonization of the Gods he’s actually 6 or 7 years old.

Outside of that, a definitive age isn’t actually provided. Genuinely, within the scope of Chinese folklore and mythos it’s very rare to assign someone an exact age - which I do believe contributed heavily to the known discourse surrounding Nezha’s age to begin with.

He was imported as an adult from India, a child form not seeming to exist for a while until stories of Krsna were integrated to how the Chinese envisioned Nalakubara. Krsna, being an infantile disguise for the notorious Vishnu, also displays supernatural human strength and is actually successful in killing his father figure (1) — unlike Nezha.

As children, both Krsna and Nezha are able to wield heavenly bows and subjugate water spirits (2) while also being known to be dragon tamers (3). The inclusion of these stories to Nezha predates the sculpting of the Quanzhou Pagoda’s (which have been discussed briefly here) and are arguably the earliest evidence of Nezha being a dragon tamer.

Speculatively a child god combination of both Nalakubara and Krsna named Nana is likely where a majority of Nezha’s child attributes come from, based in the Scripture of the Supreme Secrets of Nana Deva - which would see translations within China during the Northern Song period of 960AD-1127AD. Nana would be described thus:

At that time there was a Deva called Nana. His appearance was exceptionally handsome, and his face beamed with a gentle smile. He was holding the sun, the moon, and various weapons. His numerous treasures and abundant jewelry shone more brightly than the sun and the moon. He made himself a luoye robe (4) from the dragons Nanda and Upananda, and a belt from the dragon Taksaka (5). He possessed the same strength as Narayana (i.e. Visnu). He too came to the assembly and sat down facing the Buddha … At that time the Buddha emanated great light from his dharma body of meditation. The light covered the entire Buddha Universe, reaching all the great evil yaksas, the various types of raksasas and pisacas (6) and all the evil dragons as far as the heavenly constellations. When the Buddhas light shone upon them they all awoke to the truth. The Buddhas light returned to him and, after encircling him three times, entered his head. It then reissued in seven colors from his brow, entering Nana-Deva’s head. When the Buddha light penetrated his head, Nana Deva displayed an enormous body like Mt. Sumeru. His facial expression alternated between terrifying anger and a broad smile. He had a thousand arms, and he was holding a skull (7) and numerous weapons. He was handsomely adorned with a tiger skin robe and skulls. [Mightily Strong] He emanated blazing light and terrifying strength. When Nana Deva displayed this divine body, the great earth shook, and all who beheld him were terrified.

Both Nana and Nezha share the same residence of Vaisravana’s palace, are known dragon tamers, and both were known to use belts. The Supreme Secrets of Nana Deva predate all known connections between Nezha and dragons, perhaps lending to Nezha many more elements than initially believed.

Though without concrete evidence stating one way or another, I can only present this information speculatively - especially as it seems difficult for some to understand that Nezha does enjoy a known adult and child form. This answer has already become quite long, so if there’s still confusion regarding this please feel free to ask for more details.

Bibliography:

(1) Goldman, “Fathers, Sons and Gurus,” pp.350, 364; Masson, “Childhood of Krsna”; Ramanujan, “The Indian ‘Oedipus’”; Silk, Riven by Lust, pp. 164-170.

(2) Harley, “Krishna’s Cosmic Victories”; Matchett, “Taming of Kaliya”.

(3) It’s worth comparing Matchett’s “Taming of Kaliya” p.116 with Canonization of the Gods 12.103. Nezha is five days old within the Ming era Sanjiao yuanliu shengdi fozu sou shen daquan, p. 326.

(4) Luoye is the Chinese term for a garment Indian men tied under the armpit, leaving their right shoulder bare. See Xuanzang, Da Tang Xiyu ji, T. 2087, 51: 876b, and Li Rongxi’s translation, Great Tang Dynasty Record, p.53.

(5) Nanda, Upananda, and Taksaka appear in various Buddhist lists of the eight dragon kings; see Foguang da cidian, pp. 6378,6405.

(6) The rakasas and pisacas are two types of Hindu ogres, who Buddhists demonology incorporated. Both types feed on human flesh. See Foguang da cidian, pp6673-6674 and 3851; Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English dictionary, pp. 871 and 628; and Strickman’s survey of Buddhist demonology in his Chinese Magical Medicine, pp. 62-68.

(7) Geboluo appears frequently within the contemporaneous Chinese translation of the Hevajra Tantra (Foshuo dabeikong zhi jin’guang dajiaowang yigui jing), no. 892 volume 18: 587-601.

(8) Zuishang mimi Nana tian jing, no. 1288, 21:358b-c. hi

[entamesubs]

How the Fansubbing Process Works for entameSubs

The delays have brought about speculation and misinformed assumptions of how our work is done.

This post explains our entire process to put this misinformation to rest, and also informs those curious of how fansubbing works.

----------------------------------

For those unaware, each subbed episode comes with a section of credits at the very end that are specific to that particular episode. For example, EP124 was translated and timed entirely by me (entame), while EP122 was translated jointly by tessa (batsugeemu) and yona (angelthinktank), while I took a proofreading role. Each episode's credits are different, and I always make sure to credit properly based on who worked on what.

Step One: Translation

The job of the translator is to just get from point A (Japanese) to point B (English). One full run-through of the script, no stops in-between. Work is not edited, proofread or checked in any way, it is simply translated and then moved onto the next phase of the assembly line, so to speak.

Leave typos in, leave mistakes in, leave phrases you cannot translate or parse alone and move on. Awkward or literal translations are fine. The goal is to finish the whole script. A couple lines missing here and there is fine - they will be caught later. The first step is just to get it done.

Translating a full script can take anywhere from 2-6 hours, depending on the episode or any extraneous circumstances. To be clear, 2-3 hours is the absolute fastest that it can possibly happen, and it is an outlier. I can count the amount of times it has taken 2-3 hours on one hand. Those are usually reserved for our dedicated "speedsub" episodes, where we have everyone on deck to work continuously, without break. This is not a norm, nor should it be assumed so.

A normal episode will usually take around 4-6 hours working time to translate. Sometimes this is done a couple hours on one day, and another couple on a separate day. Sometimes it's done all in one sitting. It varies depending on the translator's schedule.

Step Two: Proofreading

After that, the proofreader then goes through for a second or third watch to do edits and checks. The proofreader is strictly in charge of making sure the translation itself is correct as well as fixing any missed lines from the translator. Grammar, typos, various other minor corrections are not expected to be done in full here, the main job of the proofreader is to just make sure the Japanese to English translation is complete, correct, and makes sense.

Is the subject correct? Is this the right verb to use in English? Are they talking about themselves or someone else? Is the context the original translator took correct/accurate? A second/third pair of eyes is essential to making sure everything comes out properly.

The translator may mark specific lines that stumped them or they need a second opinion on for the proofreader to pay special attention to. Maybe the translator can't think of an appropriate way to make something work, or need pun ideas.

Proofreading and translation roles are entirely switchable on request, because both proofreader and translator must know Japanese.

Step Three: Timing

At the same time, the timer begins the tedious work of timing the subs to the episode itself, making sure sentences show up at the correct place, for the right amount of time.

They ensure subs cut at scene changes, that the lines shown on screen are properly broken up if a character pauses, and are instering forced line breaks where necessary so subs don't awkwardly fill the entire length of the screen and are instead always centered.

Step Four: (not) "Final Check"

"Final Check" as I'd like to call it, is always done by me. Once proofreading and timing are both done, the sub files are sent to me.

I add in the opening and ending, I do all the fancy text effects if need be (such as scrolling text, rainbow text, gradient text, translating signs or posters shown on screen and blending them into the episode, etc - this is all under "Typesetting"), and I also do a third check of the script on a watch through to further edit any lines that may feel awkward to read on screen or I have thought of a better translation for.

The state that the subs come in pre-final check are subs that only contain the very middle of the episode itself. This means the prologue, the opening, the ending, UTS Report and preview are entirely unsubbed, alongside any signs or extraneous text on screen. Subs are not done pre-final check. There is a reason they must go through me first and that is because I am the only typesetter on the team.

To be clear, timing and typesetting are two entirely different skill sets. Getting the subs timed properly is one thing, getting the subs to look nice, flow well, and not feel awkward to read is another.

Typesetting is usually known as an "invisible" job. When it's done poorly, you notice it. If it's done well, you don't.

At this point, I also go over and double check things like character voice and make sure it's following our style guide. While this is a consideration made during step one and two as well (translating and proofreading), this is the point where things are tightened up.

Extraneous TL notes may also be added here in-episode if needed.

Step Five: Quality Checks

After everything has been bundled together and ready-to-go, it gets sent to our Quality Checker for the very last and final run-through. QC checks spelling errors, typos, grammar, weird English, missed casing, missed lines, style guide errors, etc.

The QC does not need to know Japanese (though it is a nice bonus if they do!), they only need to know English so they can check for grammar and weird phrasing. At this point, all of the translation work and check has been done, it is just making sure stuff makes sense to an English audience now.

After QC sends in their changes (or lack thereof), the timer usually goes back to fix up the final file for publishing.

Step Six: Distribution & TL Notes

Finally, the person who hits publish and uploads the episode file to all relevant sites is me, since I know how to setup, run, and seed torrents.

A lot of people may not know this, but all anime pirate sites (R.I.P.) pull their content from Nyaa's feed. If it's not on Nyaa, it won't be on a pirate site. In order to actually ensure proper distribution of the episode, it needs to be uploaded through Nyaa. Once it is on there, the pirate sites will all update of their own volition.

Translation notes, if any are necessary, are also written entirely by me, even if the episode may not have been translated by me initially. These are usually only written if I have time or if there is a specific concept/idea that I really want to make sure comes across properly.

Final Words

I hope this gives you better insight into the entameSubs process and how episodes are usually worked on/made.

A lot of our team is scattered across different timezones, with one person being 9 hours ahead, and another one being 6 hours ahead. This means things are done at different times and at the leisure of whoever is in charge of their role. If someone is busy, then there is nothing else anyone can do but wait.

It may be that after waiting for someone to finish, someone else in the chain becomes busy, and the process of waiting starts all over again. Steps are done like this so that we have appropriate checks in place. This is just how it is. None of us are paid, and all of us are doing this for fun.

Most of all, I take a lot of pride in the team's work. If something is not up to snuff, or I don't feel comfortable publishing it until we've been able to correct something that's been bothering us (whether that's a line, typesetting, or etc), it doesn't get published. These subs are not just "my" translations, but the work of the whole team.

Call it arrogance, but I'd much rather put out something we're proud of than something rushed through the wringer just for the sake of getting stuff out. You may disagree with lines or certain translations, but they are our work at the end of the day.

And it is a lot of work.

Thank you.

[taro-pdf]

Humans are space oddities: exploring disability, communication, and humanity’s job in space (minimal ableism!)

Humans fill various roles in the broader universe. They work jobs from pet to protection, depending on the client. For the vast majority of beings, humans' adaptability and generalist lifestyle was feared. 

Kell was lucky to be born on a human-claimed world and they were even luckier to have parents who supported them. It wasn’t going to be easy working with non-human crewmates, but at least their parents found them a safe ship to start on. 

When they arrived at the dock, a tall, winged creature stood waiting for them.

“Hello,” it greeted in ASL. Kell looked at them in surprise. ASL? From a non-human? “I’m N-O-X, Nox, moth cryptid, she/her/any. My friend signed me up to be your translator for this trip, since it’s your first time.” Having less fingers than Kell, it was a challenge for them to read her finger spelling, but not impossible.

“Nice to meet you. I’m K-E-L-L, Kell, human, they/them, they replied. I didn’t realize I would be getting a translator.”

“I didn’t either, but I’m always up for something new. Come aboard!” Nox turned and walked onto the ship. Kell followed, bemused. 

On board, Kell’s glasses transcribed spoken Universal Interplanetary Language into scrolling text, but Nox’s translations got the tone across in a way that spoken language wouldn’t be able to. With her help, they were able to easily ask and answer questions, and their crewmates had a lot of questions!

“What do you specialize in? All the captain said was you’d be working with Janmia,” asked a tuscian. 

“Have you seen your lodgings yet? I printed out some human decorations for you, such as the human fruit: pineapple!” said a yuto.

“Do humans usually speak with their hands?” asked a creature that Kell didn’t recognize. All they could tell was it was quadruped. 

“Not all of us, but some can. What was your name again?” they prompted.

“I didn’t tell you. I’m Seva, bromid, she/her. My kind greets each other by exchanging scent signatures, but humans can’t do that so let me at least smell you.” Seva didn’t wait for an invitation to stick her nose way too close. 

“You can say no, you know?” A human leaned over Kell’s shoulder, their words appearing on Kell’s glasses. 

“Ok, then no thanks, Seva!” Kell backed up as Nox translated. Seva hesitated but the new human glared and she backed off.

“Hey, what’s up with the hands?” the human walked around to see Kell’s face better.

Why was a human of all beings so judgemental? Kell grimaced, but replied, “I’m Deaf, it’s sign language. Nox is helping me now, but I’ll text with coworkers when she’s not here.” 

The human looked at Nox as she spoke, then at his watch transcribing her words.

“I can’t hear her vocalizations, but my watch picks it up,” they explained. “I didn’t realize she signed.” Nox flattened her ears and said something else to them; they rolled their eyes and turned to Kell.

“She’s always telling me what to do. But yeah, I need to introduce myself. Prak, human, he/they. I’m the main security on this ship.”

“Kell, human, they/them,” Kell offered. “I didn’t realize humans were actually a thing in the security industry. I’m here as an engine and turbine technician.”

“Our durability makes us pretty good at the job. I didn’t realize humans ever were not involved with security.” Prak glanced at his watch as a message popped up on screen. “Anyways, gotta go. Welcome aboard I guess.” He turned and walked into the crew sleeping area.

Even though Kell couldn’t see them, his words still were transcribed by Kell’s glasses. And from Nox’s startled posture, she heard it too.

“FUCK! Who printed out a pineapple???”

Notes: Kell, Nox, and Prak are all OCs of mine and I wanted to put them in space! Kell was created for this HaSO story and I feel like I haven’t wrote about them in forever.  Prak was made off a prompt that said to make an OC who hates pineapple and won’t tell anyone why (it’s partially because a pineapple killed his father, shh…). He left earth to avoid them.  I need to figure out the timeline of how all my OCs meet because it’s a bit convoluted.

[mah-t-wordblog]

maybe lee muichiro and ler obanai/ and snake???????? THANK U

Are you laughing at me?

Lee: Muichiro Tokito

Ler: Obanai Igoru, Kaburamaru

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Ships: NONE

Warnings: This is a tickle fic, if you don’t like it, just scroll down

This fanfic is originally in Portuguese, my English is translated using an automatic translator, if there are any big errors you can tell me so I can fix them

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Muichiro and Obanai were just about to train, they weren't at the usual meeting place, but at Obanai's house, the same place where the hashira trained Tanjiro and the other hunters

"Shinazugawa isn't coming?" Obanai asked

"No, him crow told me”

"Then it'll just be the two of us, I have a training idea"

The two entered the room where Obanai was teaching agility techniques to the hunters

"Do you want to train a little of agility?" The snake hashira proposed

"What do you mean?"

“This is where I train, but there are usually hunters trapped here,” Obanai said, pointing to the large wooden bars that are spread around the room. “These pieces of wood are used to simulate trees, for fighting in places full of obstacles.”

Muichiro was still processing the fact that Obanai traps weaker hunters on stakes, poor Tanjiro.

“What do you say?”

“Sounds great.” Muichiro got into a fighting stance and stood in front of Obanai, with a wooden bar between the two of them. “Let’s go!”

Obanai did the same stance.

The two jumped at the same time. Obanai’s sword certainly had a considerable advantage because he could distort it, but Muichiro wouldn’t let himself be defeated easily.

The younger boy jumped over the man and ended up stabbing him in the shoulder. Of course, it was a light attack so as not to really hurt him, but Obanai didn’t expect that he would be defeated by the boy in his own space.

“I won! Haha!” The teenager celebrated

Obanai was irritated, but kept his cool

But then Muichiro, like anyone his age, started celebrating

“I beat you in your own training center! I won!”

“Stop talking like it’s impressive” Obanai rolled his eyes

The little boy laughed “What’s wrong, Igoru? Are you mad~?”

The snake hashira started staring at the other with a dark look

“Yeah… Igoru? It was just a joke” Muichiro was starting to get nervous

“Five”

“Five? Five what?”

“Five seconds for you to run”

There was no need to say it twice, the younger boy took off running as if his life depended on it

And soon the count, and Obanai’s patience, ran out

The man ran after the other, the two dodging the wooden beams, playing cat and mouse

“Please Igoru!”

“Run”

It was harder than expected for Obanai to catch young Muichiro, but he didn’t give up

Extending his arm, he slid his snake, Kaburamaru, and made it jump towards Muichiro, and the serpent reached the boy before the hashira

Kaburamaru found a hole in Muichiro’s clothes, which were quite loose because of his fighting style, and began to circle the boy under his shirt

“What?! Nohohoho!” Muichiro fell, he couldn’t run anymore, because the scales of that snake incredibly tickled his body

“You caught him, huh, Kaburamaru?” Obanai laughed

“Pleheheashehe nohohoho” Muichiro writhed as the snake moved wherever it wanted on his body

“Ah Tokito” the snake’s hashira sat down next to the other “but this has only just begun”

Obanai joined his snake, crouching on the ground and tickling Muichiro’s belly area

“AHAHAHA OK OK I’M SOHOHOHORRY”

“You’re too arrogant for someone with so many tickle spots”

Muichiro tried to grab Kaburamaru to at least make him stop, but the snake was too fast

“I wasn’t even going to get mad at you for beating me, but when you started teasing me, it seemed like you were begging for it”

“SHUHUHUT UHUHUHUP”

Obanai laughed “where did you learn that dirty language? Did Shinazugawa teach you?”

“PLEHEHEHAHASEHE IGOHORUHU”

“Do you think he’s had enough, Kaburamaru?”

The snake came out of Muichiro’s clothes and climbed up Obanai’s arm until it wrapped itself around his neck as usual

“Okay then, if you think so” the snake’s hashira stopped

Muichiro sighed and calmed down

“I’m sorry” he laughed “it’s just that you get so funny when you’re angry”

Obanai rolled his eyes “want another round?” He said making a move to get closer again

“NO! No! I’m fine!” Muichiro ran away, standing up

“Let’s go, kid, sitting here won’t help us train” Obanai said, standing up and walking towards the same place where they started training

“Ok!” Muichiro followed him

And they continued with the hard training until sunrise

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Thanks for reading 💛💛

[eddiemunsonspantschain]

The Boyfriend Experience - Ch.2

Author's Note: I'm sorry this took me like 289380 billion years to finish. I hope you guys like it

Word Count: 5.9 k

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Warnings: Depression, loneliness, isolation, negative thoughts and emotions but fluff to make up for it

You do not have permission to copy, translate or repost my work onto other sites or social medias. This work is my own and it is owned by me.

Nothing was happening. At this point, you thought Eddie had forgotten all about his ‘Boyfriend Experience’ proposal. Since that night in your apartment, Eddie hadn’t done anything. You had both seen each other, too. So it wasn’t for the lack of being around one another. Once a week the party gets together to hang out. Sometimes it was a movie night, sometimes an excursion to do other activities depending on the season. It was getting closer to fall. The heat was starting to break and cool down more and more in the daytime, staying nice and chill in the evening. You loved this transition into fall. All the things of comfort that you loved. Comfort food, soft blankets and scary movies. It made you happy. However, you also found yourself thinking of Eddie. When you curled up on your couch with a horror movie on and some good food, your mind wandered to how nice it would be to have someone with you. Before, it used to be a vague idea of a ‘someone’. Just wanting another body next to yours, enjoying the same things that you enjoyed. But now? Now all you could think about was the warm smell of Old Spice and brown curls out of the corner of your eye. 

Your hope that you had shamefully attached to Eddie without him knowing was starting to dwindle fast. The more time that passed without him bringing up his plan or doing much of anything with you made that hope fade and fizzle out. Eddie was still nice to you, of course. Like he always had been. He talked to you, included you in the conversation with the group when you grew quiet and off to the side. He even gifted you a little affection when in front of the others. It dawned on you one day that he probably didn’t want to do anything because of the others being around. Of course, it made sense! Why would he want everyone to know he had done something with you? Kissed you? It all made sense now. Even if a small voice at the back of your mind said Eddie wasn’t that type of guy. But you weren't the one most wanted. 

You went through phases like the one you were in now. You were fine with being alone a lot. You had been and felt alone for most of your life. Not many friends, no romantic partners, and just faded into the background. You grew accustomed to loneliness. However, every now and again, you yearn. You yearn for companionship. Wherever you could get it. You once again found yourself in that position. Yearning. As you scrolled on your phone, you saw a few Instagram posts from friends, liking and commenting on some things. You chuckled as you spotted a photo of Nancy and Jonathan looking at puppies in a pet store. You transitioned to your messaging app, texting Nancy asking if she and Jonathan were planning on getting a puppy now that they lived together. After a few more minutes of scrolling, you decided to set down your phone and get some chores done.

You spent time dutifully cleaning your apartment. You always felt better when your place was clean. Too cluttered with mess made you feel like you coudn’t think or focus. However, you decided to take a break from running around busting your ass and sat down with some water, picking up your phone. You went to see if Nancy texted you back since you had texted her a while ago. No new messages. You opened up your text to Nancy.

Read: 2:17 pm

You looked at the time on your phone. 5:45 pm. You deflated, setting your phone aside. ‘Maybe she’s just busy’, you tried to rationalize. But the tiny voice in the back of your mind told you otherwise. No, she just didn’t care enough to answer. You sighed, going back to Instagram seeing another recent post from Nancy. So she was on her phone. You tossed your phone across the couch. To anyone else, this wouldn’t be a big deal. You were being too sensitive, you tried to tell yourself. You took the pillow from behind your back and shoved it on top of your phone as if it would somehow silence the bad thoughts swirling in your head. 

When things like this happened, you knew it was time to step away. If you continued the way you were, you would only get hurt. So you ignored your phone for the evening. Sometimes, that helped, but sometimes it didn’t do much to ease the thoughts swirling in your mind. Instead, you tried to stay positive. The next day, you decided to venture out of your home. You got dressed in something that made you feel comfortable. A large black hoodie, some black leggings and your red boots. Large and comfy, not wanting to feel self conscious today in any way. You found yourself wandering back to Family Video to rent some movies. When you walked inside, Steve and Robin weren’t alone.

All the gang, minus the kids, were there talking about something. When you walked in, Eddie was the first one to look up and see you. You smiled softly at him and wandered over to the horror movie section. Seconds later, Eddie was there.

“Hey, sweetheart.” he greeted, leaning against the shelf of movies.

“Hey, Eddie. How’s it goin?” you asked as you pulled a few movies from the shelf.

“Pretty good. Work’s keeping me busy,” he sighed, “But money is good. Means I can do more fun things.”

“Oh yeah? Like that?”

He grinned. “Spend it on something or someone I care about.” He shrugged, as if his answer meant nothing.

You looked at him, raising a brow before frowning. “If you think you’re gonna be spending any money on me, put that back in your head.” you warned, and Eddie sighed dramatically.

“C’mon, babe.” he murmured and moved closer. “Can’t treat my best girl to something?” Best girl. His best girl.

You shook your head. “You’re a ham, Eds.” you told him, bumping your shoulder with his as you head back to the counter. You placed the old movie you rented on the counter, adding the new ones to be rung up, too. Steve jumped to take care of your movies.

“So we can all leave here by six tomorrow? Should make it there on time. Maybe get a motel for the night?” Nancy suggested to the group, the others nodding along.

“There something going on?” you asked them.

Eyes turned to you as Nancy nodded. “We’re heading to the city to go and check out this club.” She answered.

“You’re all going?” you asked, glancing around the group as the others confirmed they were going. “Oh,” you murmured and silence followed.

“We know clubbing isn’t exactly your thing. That’s why we didn’t invite you.” Steve supplemented when the awkwardness began to kick in. You thanked whatever god was out there that you managed to control your face quick enough when you realized everyone was looking at you. You felt the ache in your chest of being excluded. Clubbing wasn’t Jonathan’s thing either, yet he was invited. Eddie didn’t like clubbing either unless it was somewhere that played music he liked. Yet, he was invited. You managed to school your face into a neutral expression. Neither happy nor sad. Just nothing. You felt the familiar burn of tears threatening to make themselves known and averted your eyes to the top of the counter. You dug into your pocket and handed your money to Steve. This was the second time now you’ve come into Family Video and had your feelings hurt. Maybe next time you’d rent somewhere else…

“Have fun.” you murmured with a small smile, taking your movies and swiftly exiting the store. You didn’t make it very far before tears gathered on your lash line. You got to your car and pulled open the door, sliding into the driver's seat and tossing the movies into the seat beside you. You took a long, shaky breath and turned the ignition. You saw the door to Family Video open up, Eddie stepping outside. You already pulled out of the parking spot, turning and heading back to your house before you could even think about what Eddie wanted. He most likely was stepping out for a smoke since Steve had had to yell at him in the past for trying to smoke in the store.

—----------------------------------------

Eddie was trying to take things slowly. He realized with his proposal that he might have come on too strongly. He didn’t want to scare you. No, he wanted this to work out well. Not scare you off before he gets the chance to get close to you. So he kept a little distance. He hadn’t meant to be as distant as he was as work took over his life. He wanted to see you. He missed you. He cherished it when he’d get to see you at least once a week at group functions. Eddie was invited to Family Video by Steve, something about plans they were making. So he had gotten dressed and hopped into his van, driving over to Family Video. When he walked inside, he saw everyone but you and felt the disappointment take hold at not seeing you standing with everyone else. He wandered up to the counter and scrunched his nose hearing a club mentioned. The only time Eddie liked going to clubs was if they played the music he liked to listen to. He wasn’t fond of the usual shit the clubs played. He’d go just to have some overpriced drinks and smoke inside, but otherwise he had no stake in it. He agreed to going, assuming that you had also been invited but weren’t here to make plans for it. You usually went along with whatever plan was made beforehand. 

When the door opened and the bell went off, Eddie looked over and grinned at seeing you walk inside. Of course, as soon as you broke off to go look at movies, he followed after you. He hadn’t seen you in two days, not that he was counting. He walked with you back to the counter and when you had asked what was going on; it hit him that you weren’t in on the plans to go to a club in the city. The second that ‘Oh’ left your lips, he wanted to hug you. Hearing the sad tone was enough to crack his heart. At Steve’s words, Eddie couldn’t help the prickle of annoyance in his chest. They knew he didn’t like clubbing either, but they had invited him. He knew the last time you all went to a club you had practically stuck to whoever was closest to you, not wanting to be left alone with all the drunk strangers. 

Then Eddie saw it. 

He had been looking at you and after Steve’s words he saw the flash of hurt on your face. It was in your eyes and on your face for all of half a second. Then he saw your face melt into indifference. Nothing shows on your face to betray your feelings. He just watched you go stone cold in seconds to cover how you felt. But he knew. He saw it. He saw the hurt and rejection. Even your tone as you told them to have fun held no emotion in it. The smile you offered was one to throw them off. Then you were gone. Eddie watched your retreating back and he looked back at the others. They seemed none the wiser. Eddie knew that they had good intentions. That they didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable in any way. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling he got seeing you school your features to not let the others in on how you were feeling. Eddie moved without thinking and without explanation, pushing the door open of Family Video just in time to see you pull away from the store. He wanted to jump out in front of your car. Anything to make you not run off from them. From him. But Eddie watched you go. Standing out there in the parking lot was when Eddie decided he would not be going tomorrow evening. No, he couldn’t do that to you. Instead, he headed back inside to let the group know he was bailing on them. Citing something more important that he had to do and ignoring the looks from Jonathan and Nancy as they glanced at one another.

The next evening was when Eddie’s plan came into action. He knew you well enough, listened to you well enough to know you would be at home in comfy clothes, keeping to yourself. So Eddie packed himself an overnight bag and headed to your place. It was sunset, and he knew you were home. He was happy to see your car parked outside your apartment and quickly made his way to your door. He could hear you inside. It sounded like you were cooking something. He knocked on the door a couple of times. When the door opened, he grinned at the sight of you. You were in a hoodie, hair pulled into a messy bun at the top of your head. Your sweatpants were baggy and tied around your hips like you had bought mens sweatpants and were unable to keep them up. Orange socks with jack-o-lantern faces on the tops of your feet poked out from the legs of your sweatpants. 

“What’s cooking?” Eddie asked, smelling something savory coming from your kitchen.

—--------------------------------

It was homemade chicken noodle soup. A comfort food for you. After the past few days, you were ready to just take time for yourself. Sometimes a self care day just makes you feel the tiniest bit better. So you planned a good meal, a bath, skin care and lots of comfort. You had chopped up all your vegetables. The usual carrots, celery, onion and garlic go into the pot. You seasoned your chicken bone broth with thyme and a sizable bay leaf. You always made more soup than one person probably needed. Usually getting a couple of bowls out of it, but you didn’t care. You had put all your veggies into the broth to simmer to soften the veggies and get some good flavor into them. You shredded up some chicken, noodles already ready to throw into the soup when it was finished. A movie played in the background as you tossed some garlic bread into the oven. Jack was just touring the hotel he would be working in for the winter. You smiled softly as you moved to your coffee table, lighting up a candle and going back to the kitchen for a drink when you heard a knock on the door. You stopped mid-stride. You certainly weren’t expecting anybody since all your friends had gone into the city to that club and you had no other friends. You frowned and approached the door carefully before leaning up on your toes for the peephole. Despite the fact that the thing was murky as hell, you could always recognize the mop of brown curls on the other side. You quickly opened the door, staring up at Eddie. At his question, you opened your mouth and closed it again. Why was he here? Shouldn’t he be with everyone else? Your eyes drifted to the bag on his shoulder. 

“Uh, chicken noodle soup and garlic bread.” You answered, stepping back to let Eddie inside. He moved inside like you had expected him. There was a dull thud as his bag hit the floor. Eddie crouched down and opened up his bag, pulling out clothes. You blinked, slowly backing up into the kitchen, a little more confused now. You opened the fridge and poured yourself some water. “Water or beer?” You called out.

“Water!”

You grabbed another glass and poured Eddie some water. You shuffled back to the living room and stopped short seeing Eddie changing in the middle of your living room. “Uhh, Eds?” you tilted your head to the side. His pale skin contrasted his tattoos well. Black ink against alabaster skin portraying things Eddie had drawn up himself. Unique art on a unique human being. For never being a jock, Eddie had muscle. You’d seen the amplifiers he had picked up before, so you knew his arms were muscular before you even got this chance to ogle them. He had a little waist and a tiny bit of pudge on his stomach. It was funny to you in that moment that you admired his tummy, but you hated your own. You wanted to poke at his tummy and hug him, feel the warmth of his skin against yours and the contours of his body.

“What’s so funny?”

You moved your eyes from Eddie’s chest to his amused face. “Nothing,” you murmured and held out the glass to him.

Eddie took the glass and took a sip before humming and shaking his head. “Nope, something was definitely funny. Was it something about my chest? You were staring pretty hard.”

Your face immediately grew warm knowing that he had caught you staring at him. “I-”

“You can stare all you want, sweetheart. Take a picture if you want, too.” Eddie set his glass down and reached for his belt, undoing it faster than you had ever seen someone unbuckle and remove a belt from their person. He popped the button on his jeans next.

“Soup! Gonna… soup.” You half shouted, half mumbled before retreating into the kitchen quickly. You removed the lid from the pot and stared down into your soup as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

When you finally got your breathing under control and you stopped picturing Eddie taking his belt off in your living room, you returned to your task of making dinner. You pulled the garlic bread from the oven and dumped the egg noodles into the pot. You reached up to grab some bowls, but another pair of hands stopped you in your tracks. Eddie grabbed the bowls, chest pressed to your back. He grabbed two of them and two small plates for the garlic bread, then set them on the counter. You swallowed thickly and wondered if he had put a shirt on. You turned your head and discovered that he hadn’t. You wiggled around until you faced him. Eddie smiled, placing his hands on the counter and trapping you in. “Not cold?” you murmured softly.

Eddie shook his head. “No, not cold,” he murmured back. One of his hands moved to your hip before sliding behind to slide up into your hoodie, touching your back. 

You stared up at him, chewing on your lip thoughtfully. He stared back at you and you watched as his eyes wandered from your eyes, then down to your lips. As he leaned in, you reached up and placed your hand on his jaw, your thumb resting on his lips. “Hold on, before you distract me,” you chuckle, feeling his lower lip jut out a little under your thumb in a pout. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the city?”

Eddie’s face shifted at your inquiry. No longer pouting, he now looked a bit sad and you thought you might have hurt his feelings by making it seem like you didn’t want him there. You moved your thumb off of his lip to let him speak. “I guess? But I knew you weren’t going and I wasn’t going to go without you…” he murmured. You watched his face for a moment. He looked like he had more to say to you and you hoped your silence would soon egg him on. You nodded your head a little. “How did you do that?” he finally asked quietly after a few moments of silence. 

“Do what?”

“You shut off.” You raised a brow at that. Shut off? Shut off what? “In the store the other day, Steve mentioned why they didn’t invite you. You looked upset for half a second, sweetheart, then… nothing. Like it never happened. I watched you just kinda… shut off?”

Oh. “You noticed that?” you whispered and Eddie nodded. His fingers soothingly rubbed the skin of your back. 

“Yeah, I noticed that.” he answered, “What was that?”

You didn’t want to tell him. You’d learned sometimes it was far better hiding your feelings than making other people ‘deal with’ them. You didn’t want to bother anyone with your emotions. “It was nothing, really.” you waved it off but Eddie was stubborn and you knew this. So it didn’t surprise you when he shook his head. 

“No, no. Not nothing. C’mon. Boyfriend time. Be honest with me and how you feel.” 

You sighed. There was only so long you could go with this and you knew this. Eddie was persistent when he wanted to be. Your hands moved to his chest before settling down at his waist. “I just… hid it.” you murmured with a small shrug as if it was nothing.

“Hid it?”

“My reaction. How I felt.”

“Why?”

The simple question in and of itself stopped you. You knew why but you also knew for some people it probably was a hard thing to grasp. You took a breath and sighed. “Because it’s better to tuck it away than to let people know you’re upset. So they don’t get upset that you’re upset and have to deal with how you… I, feel.” you murmured your explanation, distracting yourself with the tattoos inked into Eddie’s chest instead of looking up at his face. “It happens. Especially when I’ve had a rough week. It just… feels easier to tuck it away for the time being.”

“And what happens when it doesn’t stay hidden away?” Eddie practically whispered his question like he was afraid of the answer.

“You wouldn’t want to see that when it happens. It isn’t pretty.”

“I’m not here for just the pretty.” 

Your eyes moved up to his face. “Yeah?” your voice cracked a little and you resisted the urge to ask why he had waited all week to kiss you then if that was how he felt. Why he didn’t want to in front of everyone else. It never occurred to you that it might be for your comfort and not his own.

“Talk to me,baby. Tell me what’s happened this week.” Eddie murmured, pressing closer to you. His lips met your forehead in a soothing touch as you took a shaky breath. 

“I just felt…” your lips closed again. It was nerve wracking just telling someone plainly how you felt. How you hurt.

“Go on,”

“I felt ignored this week,” you admitted softly.

“By who?” Eddie asked, pulling back so he could see your face now.

“Nancy was first. Reached out and she left me on read that’s all… there was also what happened at Family Video the other day. You and Jonathan got invited to the club and I know it isn’t my scene but it isn’t yours either but you guys got invited. Then,” you stopped. The last thing had been Eddie. Not hearing from him since the first night he was there at your apartment with you and when he did see you he had acted as if none of this was happening. It made you feel a way you didn’t want to feel again.

Eddie was too observant in his day to day life but sitting there watching your face intently as you spoke he knew not just from your trailing off into silence that there was something else but he could see it in your eyes. He gave your side a gentle squeeze as if to pull you back to him. “Then,” he murmured softly.

Your eyes moved back up to Eddie’s face. You were afraid to hurt his feelings and the urge to tell him that it was nothing was strong. The way Eddie watched you made you feel like you should just tell him. If you didn’t, you risked him acting as if nothing had ever happened again. It felt almost like being used. “I know this isn’t real.” you started, “but you… I just hardly saw you this week and I know I’m probably overthinking it like the idiot I am but I didn’t see you for so long and then we finally have a party gathering and… I don’t know. I expected something, I guess.” 

“Something? Can you give me more details?” he asked, his other hand now moving to cradle the back of your head.

Band aid. Just rip it off. “Did you not want to kiss me in front of everyone else? It’s because it’s me, isn’t it?” you practically rush out. 

The look on Eddie’s face has your face growing warm with embarrassment. The shock written on his face at your words like he almost couldn’t believe you had asked him that. “No! No, Y/N. It’s not because it’s you. How could you… Fuck, babe. I’d kiss you in front of all of them but I didn’t for you. Not because of you. I didn’t wanna scare you off and I also didn’t want everyone to have a million questions especially cause I had no idea what you were thinking after last week. Trust me, if I thought I could get away with it I’d make out with you in front of all of them and risk whatever would be thrown at us to make us stop.” Eddie chuckled, tucking a piece of your hair back into your bun that attempted an escape. You pouted, lightly swatting his side as he mentioned making out with you in front of the others. It made sense what he was saying. If no one else knew of your ‘arrangement’ it might seem weird it happened. Besides that, one moment you both were just friends and the next you were all over one another? You supposed it wasn’t far off. “I know you’re also not huge on public displays of affection.” Eddie added on.

You shrugged your shoulders. That was actually due in part to being on your own. Being so lonely, yearning what other people had and those experiences sometimes made it hard to see people lavish affection on one another. It usually brought on a bitter feeling and thoughts about how you would never know what that would feel like. It was better not to see it than to see it and crave what you couldn’t have. You pressed your face to Eddie’s chest and sighed, taking in his warmth. “More like jealousy than anything else,” you mumbled your confession against his skin. You’d never been this close to a shirtless man before. 

“Jealousy, huh?” Eddie hummed and you could hear the smirk in his tone. “Might just have to make out with you on our first public date outting. Movies? Go real old school with it.”

“Not really old school like Skull Rock or Lovers Lake?” you tease and rested your chin on his chest.

“Oooh, you wanna go really old school, huh?” Eddie laughed and nodded his head, “We can do that.” 

You felt a little better having talked it out with Eddie. The conversation didn’t go deeper after that, but even the little that you had touched on felt like a weight was lifted off of your shoulders. Eddie made you feel validated. Not that your feelings were unimportant in any way. Sometimes you knew what was upsetting you could be ridiculous and was linked to a deeper problem at the time but it was nice just to be heard. There were multiple reasons why someone might not answer their phone or decide they will answer later and just forget. You sometimes just got into these depressive episodes where it felt like everything was the issue. The smallest thing was blown up in your mind because your mind was telling you these negative things. It was why you found nights like these helpful. A good meal, some movies and self care could sometimes knock you into a good headspace to start fresh again.

After your conversation, you and Eddie took your food into the living room. You both eat in silence as you watch the movie. Every now and again, Eddie makes a comment on the film or your cooking. When the food was finished and the rest put up, you sat on the couch and knew you should move on to your other parts of the evening before it got too late. Eddie dramatically draped himself over your legs as you stretched out on your couch. He wriggled his way up until his head rested on your stomach. “So, what else do you do on these cozy nights of yours?” Eddie asked, eyes glued to the TV.

“I do some skincare, have a good bath or shower. Get all pretty and soft skinned.” you answered as you began playing with his hair. It then occurred to you that Eddie was there. You moved your hand to his face, feeling his cheek before feeling his forehead then his nose. 

“Sweetheart… what are you doing?”

You giggle at his question and shrug. “Feeling your face compared to your T-zone.” you answer as if it was obvious.

“My what zone?” Eddie lifted his head to look at you.

“Your T-zone.” you poked his forehead, running your finger across his forehead, then down the bridge of his nose to form a T. “Some people are more oily in their T-zone. I was curious about your face. Do you wanna join me?”

“Are you gonna touch my zones again?”

“I’m gonna touch all over your face. Maybe your neck too.” you laughed. If you really wanted to you could spoil him by laying him down and giving him the full treatment. “Shower first though.”

Eddie immediately grinned. “Are we gonna shower together?” he wiggled his brows at you.

“I think it’s a tad early for you to see me naked.”

“Damn it.” Eddie sighed dramatically, “... you can still see me naked though.”

“You almost did show me. Remember?”

“Oh yeah… where did I throw that belt?”

—--------------------------------

Both of you took separate showers. Once you were clean, you had set out your stuff on your night table and sat on your bed. Eddie laid down on your bed with his head resting in your lap. You already had a face mask on and had diligently pulled Eddie’s hair back, strapping a headband onto him to keep his hair at bay from his face.

“So this is supposed to be good for you?” Eddie asked, eyes closed as you picked things up off of your bedside table.

“Yes, Eddie. It’s good for you.” you laughed as you wet Eddie’s face. You squirted some of your face wash into your hands and lathered it up before starting to clean Eddie’s face. You made sure to massage the cleanser into his skin. A small smile tugged at your lips feeling Eddie’s body relax further as you massaged his face. Once it was clean, you took a damp towel and wiped the cleanser off.

“Tranquilizer fingers over here.” Eddie mumbled quietly. You hummed as you started to paint a mask onto his face. “Oooh, what the fuck, is this normal?” Eddie asked, chocolate eyes open and turned up towards you.

“What’s happening?” you asked him with a frown.

“My face is tingly. Is my face gonna fall off?” his eyes were wide, concerned for the state of his face.

“Does it tingle or burn like a sunburn?”

“Tingle. It doesn’t hurt.”

You laughed and shook your head. “That’s normal, babe. If it burned then no.” you reassured him, smoothing more of the mask over his face.

“Oh thank god. My beautiful face,” he sighed dramatically. “So this relaxing stuff, you do it often?”

You nodded your head. “It helps me relax. Forget about everything that happens when it’s a bad day. Makes me feel fresh and renewed in a way. Relaxed, too.” you explained with a small shrug.

“Do you masturbate on these nights too?” Eddie chuckled, “Sounds like it’d go well together.”

You roll your eyes and nod. “Yeah, perv. That goes hand in hand too.” you laugh, gently tugging on his hair. 

Eddie managed to let you finish doing a face mask on him followed by putting some hair products into his hair. You even managed to paint his nails for him. Black, of course. At the end of the night when the beauty products were put away and the dishes cleaned, Eddie crawled into bed with you. You curled up beside him, snuggling close to him as he turned the night table lamp off. You listened to his heart beat. You took a breath and shut your eyes.

“Eddie,”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for spending time with me tonight.”

“Of course, sweetheart. Anything for you.”

—---------------------------------

It was still chilly. You were thankful for it. You had been watching your curtains blowing from the breeze coming through the open window for a while now. You looked over at the clock. It was later than you usually woke up but you had the day off and you currently had a man cuddling you. You found you liked cuddling or maybe you just liked cuddling Eddie. Either way, you were content. His breath fanned over your skin every time he breathed out, very much still asleep. You had entertained the idea of getting up and making coffee but that meant moving from where you were. Comfy and warm under your covers. Eddie’s arms tightened around you as if in his sleep he was telling you not to move either. You laid there just a bit longer.

It was your need for the bathroom that finally made you move. You carefully extracted yourself from Eddie’s hold and grabbed your hoodie from last night, pulling it back on. When you slept it was like a delicate balance of temperatures. Nice and cold inside the room but you couldn’t bundle too much to sleep or you’d grow too hot. You started up some coffee and then started making scrambled eggs with sausage. Just as you were finishing up Eddie stumbled out of the bedroom. You let your eyes linger on Eddie’s shirtless form walking mindlessly towards you.

“Hi,” you laughed as he shuffled towards you.

Eddie grunted, wrapping his arms around you and leaning in. His lips pressed against yours, lingering there, pressing gentle kisses against your lips. You melted against him, kissing him back and deciding this was something you could get used to. When he pulled away you whined quietly at the loss of his lips on yours. “Hi,” Eddie answered, voice gravelly from sleep. “You make me breakfast?” he murmured as his head moved to press his face to your neck. 

“Mhm,” you hummed, rubbing your hands over his back before wrapping your arms around him. “Hungry? Got coffee too.”

“So good to me,” Eddie murmured before lifting his head to kiss you again.

“C’mon,” you laughed, nudging him gently before pulling away to give him a mug.

Eddie took the mug from you and started to make his coffee. Soon the two of you were cuddled up on your couch to enjoy your breakfast together. Sitting there having coffee with Eddie felt good. It was comfortable and you found yourself thinking maybe you could get used to something like this. Maybe, just maybe, this was something you could have.

[originalaccountname]

i feel like i'm in the minority here but i don't ship any characters in bsd and sometimes it's hard to find non-ship content, do you know any safe accounts to follow?

Due to the type of fandom you'll find here, 100% certified non-ship content is pretty rare. There are grey areas though, it depends on what you find is too much for you and how much you can scroll past on the regular. In that sense, my art blog @originalartblog is mainly about Dazai and Chuuya, with the occasional romantic piece, but it's mostly ambiguous relationship skk and canon-inspired jokes and art.

The bsd blogs I keep track of/follow are mostly blogs that have a notable focus on soukoku (romantic, platonic or otherwise), so I can't help much I'm afraid. Some suggestions to keep you afloat:

@justplaggin who reblogs non-ship/platonic/could-be-platonic content and posts official art, but is multifandom.

@bsd-rewatch is an ongoing rewatch of bsd's anime, so there you'll find a compilation of people's posts per episode, with the shipping-focused content tagged as such

@awkwardbsd isn't very active, but has a huge backlog of non-ship bsd content for you to scroll through

@akutagawa-daily, @the-chikyuu-times (<-multifandom) have official art

@popopretty, @nineofscans have translations

I'm opening this to people who think their blog might be interesting for Anon's preferences! Character-specific blogs, edits, screenshots, official art, platonic relationships enjoyers, etc. this is for you, come forth and shine!!!

[saskia-mae]

how to revise effectively

revision is a very important part of education, but many people have no idea how. in this post i'm going to outline the basics of revision. it's important to note that different subjects will require you to revise differently, there is no one size fits all when it comes to revision.

less is more- studying for 30 focused minutes is way more effective than a 5 hour study session while you watch tv.

work on exam technique- this is such an overlooked part of revising for an exam, but if you know how to answer the questions and what structures to use, it will really help you. ask your teacher or search for your exam board online to find out the best way for your subject and exam board.

manage distractions- if like me you get distracted super easily, you need to create an environment with limited distractions. this means put your phone on do not disturb, if your house/place of study is noisy put some headphones on and listen to classical music or study ambience (my favourites are the Harry Potter rooms by Asmrweekly on youtube). if you get distracted while studying by thinking of things you need to do, something that's really helped me is to have a piece of paper next to me that i can write all my thoughts on, so i can continue studying and do what i've written afterwards.

set precise goals for your study session- this helps to reduce procrastination. for example, if I put "study geography" on my to do list i'll procrastinate, but if I put "do 30 flashcards for the topic hazards" I have a clear idea of what I need to do

use the pomodoro method- having breaks is really important in keeping you engaged while you're studying. I don't follow the typical timings, but I usually do between 30-45 minutes of studying followed by a 10-15 minute break depending on how I'm feeling

utilise your study breaks- it's so easy to pick your phone up and scroll through tiktok until you realise your 5 minute break turned into a 3 hour tiktok binge. when I go on a study break, I only go on my phone to snap people back, or for a little scroll on pinterest. I also like to get some more water, grab a snack and stretch. If I'm having a longer break, I'll try to get outside and go for a walk, especially if the weather is good (in England this is about 5 days of the year haha)

now, onto different ways to revise

doing past papers

doing flashcards

making timelines

doing essay plans

making mindmaps

blurting

quizzes

if you study languages, practicing translations or specific types of questions that come up in the exam (for my exam board this is things like gap fill activities, 90 word listening or writing summaries, finding synonyms in a text etc.)

[talonabraxas]

Cycle Of Samsara

Six Realms

Six States of Existence Six Roads of Reincarnation Six Paths of Transmigration Six Realms of Samsara Six Karmic Realms of Rebirth Six Directions of Reincarnation Six Destinies

Wheel of Life

Six Paths (Jp. = Rokudō 六道 or Rokudō-rinne 六道輪廻 or Mutsu no Sekai 六つの世界). Buddhist concept stemming from Hindu philosophies. Commonly translated in English as the “Six Realms of Karmic Rebirth.”

Long before Buddhism's introduction to India, Hindu (Brahman) beliefs and traditions held sway. One important concept was "transmigration," more commonly known in the West as "reincarnation." It holds that all living things die and are reborn again. Your rebirth into the next life will be based on your behavior in your past life. This rebirth occurs again and again. When Buddhism emerged in India around 500 BC, it too stressed this Hindu belief in transmigration, one that still plays a major role in modern Buddhist philosophy. The modern Buddhist concept of Karma is also a byproduct of ancient Hindu beliefs in transmigration and reincarnation.

Among Buddhists, all living beings are born into one of the six states of existence (Samsara in Sanskrit, the cycle of life and death). All are trapped in this wheel of life, as the Tibetans call it. All beings within the six realms are doomed to death and rebirth in a recurring cycle over countless ages -- unless they can break free from desire and attain enlightenment. Further, upon death, all beings are reborn into a lower or a higher realm depending on their actions while still alive. This involves the concept of Karma and Karmic Retribution. The lowest three states are called the three evil paths, or three bad states. The Japanese spellings of all six, plus brief descriptions, are shown below:

1.Beings in Hell. Naraka-gati in Sanskrit. Jigokudō 地獄道 in Japanese. The lowest and worst realm, wracked by torture and characterized by aggression.

2.Hungry Ghosts. Preta-gati in Sanskrit. Gakidō 餓鬼道 in Japanese. The realm of hungry spirits; characterized by great craving and eternal starvation; see below photo/link for “Scroll of the Hungry Ghosts” (Gaki Zōshi 餓鬼草紙)

3.Animals. Tiryagyoni-gati in Sanskrit. Chikushōdō 畜生道 in Japanese. The realm of animals and livestock, characterized by stupidity and servitude.

4.Asura. Asura-gati in Sanskrit. Ashuradō 阿修羅道 in Japanese. The realm of anger, jealousy, and constant war; the Asura (Ashura) are demigods, semi-blessed beings; they are powerful, fierce and quarrelsome; like humans, they are partly good and partly evil. See Hachi Bushu (8 Legions) for details.

5.Humans. Manusya-gati in Sanskrit. Nindō 人道 in Japanese. The human realm; beings who are both good and evil; enlightenment is within their grasp, yet most are blinded and consumed by their desires.

6.Deva. Deva-gati in Sanskrit. Tendō 天道 in Japanese. The realm of heavenly beings filled with pleasure; the deva hold godlike powers; some reign over celestial kingdoms; most live in delightful happiness and splendor; they live for countless ages, but even the Deva belong to the world of suffering (samsara) -- for their powers blind them to the world of suffering and fill them with pride -- and thus even the Deva grow old and die; some say that because their pleasure is greatest, so too is their misery.

[spanishskulduggery]

I love scrolling through your blog because of all the great resources and explanations! I’ve been speaking Spanish with my partner (who only started learning English a year ago) everyday since 2020 but I took a little CEFR test today online and got B1, which seriously shook my confidence. How do I start filling in the gaps in my knowledge and learning all the stuff I’ll never pick up just speaking at home?

This can be difficult because it's partially skills and partially knowledge, and each person is different

(Also can be difficult when speaking with native speakers who use "incorrect" grammar aka the way they speak is correct but not how formal Spanish wants you to speak, like saying "ain't" in English isn't correct but it is what sounds natural)

Like if you take the test and you're great at everything but the listening part (that was me on my exam years ago) then it's a skill thing

Knowledge is easier to fix. It depends on what your gaps are though. There are some big things like understanding subjunctive or preterite/imperfect that are common missteps... and there are minute details that trip people up. Like they always try to make sure you know y/e or o/u

In practically every major competency exam for Spanish, you'll see something like siete _ ocho horas "seven (or) eight hours" or something equivalent and it wants you to put "or", but it should be siete u ocho horas because o "or" turns to u when it precedes a word with O- or HO-

Spanish Grammar Online: Contents (Enrique Yepes, Bowdoin)

This is what I usually recommend for people who are more intermediate because it gives an overview of the major things you should know. There are some minor things that aren't addressed though

I would also recommend WordReference, Linguee, and Contexto Reverso which are my usual go to resources for finding the right words / seeing how something is translated

Also don't knock Wikipedia in Spanish - the amount of times I've had to look up specific geographical names/spellings or especially looking up names of specific animals/plants/minerals... it's truly a lifesaver and you get to practice your reading

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

How to Subscribe to Shonen Jump+

Someone asked me for a tutorial on how you can subscribe to the Japanese digital releases of Weekly Shonen Jump even from outside Japan, so, here we go!

THINGS TO KNOW:

A subscription to Weekly Shonen Jump costs 980 yen per month, and it is always charged on the first of the month every month until you cancel. If you purchase your subscription during the middle of the month, you simply have less time before the next charge.

Depending on your credit card, you may also be charged a small foreign transaction fee on top of the 980 yen.

Your first subscription includes the most current issue of WSJ, so if you subscribed on a Saturday, you could still read the issue that was released the prior Monday.

Back issues are not included. You will only have access to the newest issue of WSJ and Jump GIGA when you subscribed and every subsequent issue released after that. To have access to past issues, you have to purchase them individually.

This tutorial is for the desktop web browser version of SJ+. The SJ+ app is different; I have heard you can create a Japanese Google Play or Apple account and purchase giftcards through their respective stores, then download the SJ+ app and buy a subscription with that, but I have no experience with this method.

Shueisha's payment processor can be finicky. It does not accept debit cards, only credit cards. Please note which kinds of credit cards they accept as shown in Step Five.

Because the charge comes from another country, initial attempts may get flagged as fraudulent by your credit card company, so be sure to contact them to confirm the purchase is from you. The site rejected my card a couple times before I was able to clear it with my card issuer and try again.

The SJ+ website is in Japanese; my tutorial includes side-by-side screenshots of the original pages and a machine translation.

Machine translation sites can't access pages you need to log in to see, so if you have any problems and don't understand what you're seeing, take a screenshot and translate the image before continuing.

STEP ONE: Go to the Shonen Jump+ website

They are legally obligated to tell you about cookies. shrug?

STEP TWO: Find the new subscription button and click it

This will take you here! Look at Izuku, beaming at noncommittal passersby, encouraging them to shell out the big bucks just to see his sweet face every week. Click the yellow button to continue.

STEP THREE: Account registration

This initiates account registration. Fill out the information, accept the terms, and usher on. You will have to check your email and click the link they send you to verify your account.

I already had an account, so I don't know if they let you jump right back into your subscription attempt after verifying. If not, go back to to the main page, log in (click ログイン, in the top righthand corner near the new subscription button), and then start the subscription process.

STEP FOUR: Initiate subscription process

STEP FIVE: Enter payment details

Scroll and click the blue button to continue.

STEP SIX: Confirm purchase

It'll look like this. Click the blue button to confirm.

Now you've got a subscription to Weekly Shonen Jump! Wahoooo~!

If you click the blue button to continue, they take you back to their main page with a notice up front.

My Page is where you can see everything you've bought, rented, and the newest issues of your subscribed magazines.

When you are logged in, the main page will look like this:

Notice that you can also access the newest WSJ on the right there.

You can also look at or edit your account information by clicking My Page and going to Customer Information.

Notice that if you need to update your account details or payment information, or cancel your subscription, this is where you will do it.

After you click the red link for canceling, you will be shown a page asking you to confirm. Once you cancel, your subscription will still be valid until the last day of the month in which you cancelled.

And that's how you do it! Have fun! <3

[romisora]

Reflecting on Romeo and Alfredo's Relationship in Romeo's Blue Skies

This is going to be a very long post as I dig through years of interviews with the creators of the series and spend time reflecting on my own feelings since first seeing this show as a kid over ten years ago; I'm curious to see if there are any other queer fans who resonate with my experience. If you're just interested in reading the staff interview snippets, scroll towards the end.

TL;DR Romeo and Alfredo's feelings for each other were confirmed to be romantic in an interview with the director of the series in 2010.

For some background context, I first saw this series as a closeted queer kid. I had seen other media prior to this that were canonically queer on-screen, but had prevented myself from getting too invested in them. Deep down, it scared me that I was drawn to them and I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't like them. Also, I fall somewhere on the asexual and gray-romantic spectrum and as a result I never had much interest in romance-centered stories in the first place. However, something I didn't realize at the time there actually were types of romantic relationships that I desired, but there was an absence of me seeing them portrayed and allowing myself to be drawn to them.

When I first watched Romeo's Blue Skies, I was not prepared for how emotionally invested I became in the story, especially in the relationship between Romeo and Alfredo. I remember feeling confused why I was having feeling so many emotions while watching, and wondering why I was moved to tears over two fictional characters. At the time, I could tell it hit me on a deeper level than some people around me who I re-watched it with, and I was at a loss for what the reasons were. No piece of media had made me feel this deeply before, and few have come close since then. There's definitely a lot of other personal things about the story and characters that have grown with me over the years that contribute to how much I love this series as well, but Romeo and Alfredo were always at the heart of it. Back then, I tried to merely chalk up my feelings to the two characters having a beautiful friendship, one that I desired to have . . .

Years later, after I had figured out a lot more about my queer identity, I decided to revisit this show which had consistently been in my top 5 favorites even though I had not re-watched it in a very long time. Immediately, I started picking up on all the cues and realizing all the things about these two that had moved me and why it had been the case. The way they talked and supported each other, the way they thought each other, and the emotional intimacy between them. Regardless of anything that was stated on-screen, their connection felt incredibly romantic.

Something to keep in mind, I'm analyzing this series through the lens of the split-attraction model and am talking purely about romantic attraction here, not sexual attraction. If you are not familiar with the split-attraction model and different types of attraction, I recommend researching and reading about it. Being a kid on the asexual spectrum, I think it was precisely the innocence and pureness of Romeo and Alfredo's romantic attraction to one another that struck a chord with me. Additionally, being closeted, I believe on a subconscious level I resonated with the fact that these two were clearly in love with each other, but just like me, they did not understand it themselves either.

There were also a couple moments on my re-watch where my interest was piqued by dialogue nuances which were left out in the fansub translations.

From Episode 24, here Alfredo is saying "Romio ga inakucha dameda" (ロミオがいなくちゃだめだ。), which translates a bit closer to "I need you, Romeo," or "I can't do it without you, Romeo." However, depending on the context, this phrase can have a much stronger meaning, translating closer to "I can't live without you."

From Episode 26, although technically Alfredo is agreeing with Bianca here, his exact words are "Aa, subarashiiyo" (ああ、素晴らしいよ) which is "Yeah, he's wonderful."

Later in the same scene, Alfredo says to Bianca, "Omae mo itsuka kitto, Romio ga daisuki ni naru" (おまえもいつかきっと、ロミオが大好きになる。)

"Omae mo" which means "you too," what he's saying here is actually closer to "You too, will surely grow to like Romeo a lot someday." Potentially, there's a stronger undertone here which could be closer to "You too, will surely fall in love with Romeo someday."

"Daisuki ni naru" can mean either "fall in love with" or "grow to like a lot," and can be romantic or platonic depending on context. Bianca's reaction afterwards certainly feels rooted in the fact that his words fall in this gray area.

Ultimately, regardless if Romeo and Alfredo's relationship was not meant to be seen as romantic, it would not change the reasons why the series impacted me so much. However, on my recent re-watch, I couldn't help but wonder how much of it was intentional since so many creative choices in the show felt very deliberate. Alfredo's quickness to grab Romeo's hand, the gentle touches between them, the longing gazes, the promises, the daydreaming about each other when separated, how romantic the accompanying music tracks feel whenever they were together.

A side note here, two things about this situation can be true simultaneously. There can and should be more platonic male friendships with this level of emotional intimacy, and this should be more encouraged, accepted, and represented. At the same time though, there is no need to deny the queer-coding of these two characters. Both interpretations can exist alongside each other. After all, romantic or not, a huge part of their relationship is based on a strong foundation of friendship.

Somewhat related to this, I'd argue that a huge part of why the emotional chemistry between these two characters is so strong is because the story/script writer was a woman and they were both played by women. I joked to myself on my recent re-watch that Romeo and Alfredo have lesbian energy, and later realized that perhaps there were actual reasons why I was getting those vibes 😆

I have the 1996 Megu Extra artbook for the series I had picked up years ago. Since I had been recently been starting to study more Japanese, and Google Lens and DeepL have become pretty good at character recognition and translation, I started to casually read some of the staff interviews in the back of the book. My heart skipped a beat when I read this passage from the interview with the director, Kouzou Kusuba:

(scan of the page is edited to just show the relevant passage here)

Here's a translation I later got from a professional translator:

—It ended up becoming quite popular.

Kusuba: Contrary to my expectations… The fans are maniacs (laughs). Every work has its own fans, but for this one, it really did defy expectations. Well, I do understand the reason. I did depict Romeo and Alfredo in a homosexual-like way. Two men staring into each other’s eyes, or being quick to touch each other. Such depictions were not done previously in the Masterpiece series, and they were quite common here.

The vagueness here was what intrigued me, was he saying they were intentionally gay or just explaining why fans were interpreting them that way? He certainly did not seem to be outright denying the possibility.

I started digging deeper down the rabbit hole of interviews with the staff in various books over the years, burning with curiosity.

I found a couple more interesting vague allusions to the nature of Romeo and Alfredo's relationship in interviews with the script writer and voice actors in the 1996 Megu Extra art book and the 10th anniversary book.

From the 1996 Megu Extra interview with the script writer, Michiru Shimada. Translated with DeepL, edited for readability:

Interviewer: Please tell us about the process of adapting the original story into an anime.

Shimada: At first I thought the story would be a bit hard to follow. But as I worked on it, I think I was able to write something that I never thought I would be able to do. At first, I didn't think it would become this much of a friendship story between Romeo and Alfredo. Of course, I thought that would be the main theme and the climax of the story, but I feel that their friendship, or rather their relationship of trust, went further and further than I had expected.

From the 10th anniversary book interview with Michiru Shimada. Translated with DeepL, edited for readability:

Since I started using the Internet, I found out that "Romeo" had fans, and now that it has reached its 10th anniversary, it still has as many fans as ever. It's very surprising. I am deeply moved that 10 years have already passed, and at the same time, I am filled with gratitude that so many of you remember it. At the time of the broadcast, the ratings were low and I wondered if anyone was even watching the show. So I had no idea that there was a lot of talk among some fans about the relationship between Romeo and Alfredo being "suspicious" (laughs).

From the 10th anniversary book interview with Ai Orikasa and Toshiko Fujita, the voice actors of Romeo and Alfredo, respectively. Translated with DeepL, edited for readability:

Interviewer: So what "Romeo" depicts is the most important part, and in that sense, it is an eternal theme. Even when you grow up, you still think, "I want this kind of friendship," at the heart of it, don't you?

Orikasa: In some ways, it's ideal. I wish I had a friend like Alfredo…. Also, you are drawn to both the innocence of a boy like Romeo, whose hard work is beautiful, and the coolness and fragility of a brilliant but unfortunate boy like Alfredo.

Fujita: Even though they're just boys, there's a deep bond between them, like a romance, right? That's a big theme of Romeo and Alfredo's story.

Interviewer: What do you think is the secret behind Romeo and Alfredo's popularity?

Orikasa: Alfredo is unquestionably cool. Even being unfortunate has a kind of charisma…Romeo, on the other hand, is definitely a blank canvas. He's absorbing everything, but he's desperately trying to survive. He loves people desperately, he desperately wants to do something about it, and he can be clumsy or childish at times, but that's what makes him so charming. As for the relationship between the two, Romeo will never be able to live like Alfredo, and Alfredo will never have anything like Romeo, so they admire each other.

Fujita: I don't know which one of them is happier, but each of them has different qualities that they were born with or things that they acquired without realizing it. On the one hand, I feel like I have to protect them, but on the other hand, I also want to throw them away…That's why Romeo's blank canvas looks wonderful to Alfredo. Perhaps his canvas had been already painted over ever since he was born. They both have something wonderful from the start, but they're both attracted to what they don't have.

…It sounds like we're talking about a man and a woman (laughs).

Orikasa: That's really true. So, I'm sure the fans saw the two of them that way as well. But we were also laughing in the recording studio. There were long scenes where they stared at each other (laughs).

Fujita: That was hilarious. "Isn't it a little too long?" (laughs) We would say things like, "That look in his eyes is not normal."

By this point, I was still wondering if the romantic subtext was actually intentional, or if the creators were just joking around and acknowledging fan interpretations. However, at the very least, I felt I could be satisfied knowing that no one was arguing against the interpretation of them being more than friends. I began to assume that even if the romantic subtext was intentional, the creators would never officially confirm it and would continue to skirt around the topic forever.

Then, to my absolute shock, I found it. Fifteen years after the show aired, in the 2010 World Masterpiece Theater Europe Memorial Book, the director unabashedly confirming the feelings between Romeo and Alfredo were always intended to be romantic.

From the special interview with director Kouzou Kusuba. Professionally translated:

Romeo and Alfredo, the two had fallen in love . . .

With Romeo and Alfredo, that was love at first sight. Without even going into male friendships, the two are lovers. Before they start walking down the road of hardships, when they meet during the apple incident, it was love at first sight. They fell in love. That is the only explanation for having a bond that is that strong.

After Angeletta, Romeo’s heart moves towards Bianca. That is because he saw traces of her older brother, Alfredo, in her. So in the end, it was Alfredo for Romeo.

For comparison's sake, the DeepL translation with my own edits for better readability:

Romeo and Alfredo, they fell in love . . .

Romeo and Alfredo, it was love at first sight. Before you say anything about male friendships, these two are lovers. They fell in love at first sight when they met at the apple incident before they started down the road of hardship. They fell in love. If we didn’t think of it that way, they would not have had such a strong bond.

Romeo's heart moves on to Bianca after Angeletta. It is because he saw in Bianca the image of her brother Alfredo. After all, it really is still Alfredo for Romeo.

There's a crucial bit of info to note about the interview in the original Japanese that confirms it was romance without a shadow of a doubt. The director uses the word 恋 (koi) to describe their love, which is a term that is only used for romantic love in Japanese, as well as 恋人 (koibito - lovers/sweethearts/boyfriends). This leaves no ambiguity unlike the words すき (suki - like), and 愛 (ai - love), which, like their closest English counterparts, can be platonic or romantic depending on context.

Although I didn't need the romantic connection between them to be canon, actually having it confirmed simultaneously fills my heart with so much joy and ache even more. The story hits much harder when viewed through the lens of being an intentional, fleeting childhood romance between two boys who are oblivious to the fact that they are in love with each other. There's a sense of disconnect between them knowing that they feel strongly towards each other, but not realizing what their feelings mean and the people around them not understanding how deep it is either. I certainly had feelings as a kid that I wasn't able to identify as romantic until years later because of compulsory heterosexuality, and I'm sure many other queer people would relate to this as well.

It's beautiful, yet heartbreaking. If you consider it, the way their romance is presented contextually makes sense from both the standpoint of being realistic to the 1870s, time period it is set in, and the constraints of when it was created and aired on TV, in 1995. Especially with Romeo's Blue Skies being a children's show and a World Masterpiece Theater series, there probably would have been no scenario where the creators could have explicitly stated it on-screen. Instead, they poured it all into subtext, which shines brightly.

Romeo and Alfredo never needed to say, "I love you." A few words, a tender gaze and a gentle hand touch between them to me almost feels more romantic than a kiss ever could. It is so painfully evident in the way they look at each other and treat each other that they have a much deeper emotional and romantic bond between them than any other characters in the series.

I think that's what spoke to me all those years ago. The feeling of finding someone you're on the same wavelength with; those unspoken understandings between each other. I saw these two and was struck somewhere deep in my heart with the desire for a relationship like that. Even now, there's a part of me that feels: If I were to find my equivalent counterpart of Romeo and Alfredo, I would be set for life . . .

[360iris]

make it awkward | moon knight system x camgirl!reader

3,491 words, mature (more than a lil bit of a crack fic?), Steven x reader + Jake x reader focused, no use of Y/n, all Spanish sentences are translated at the very end (I grew up around Spanish speakers from ages 6 to 16 but I never became fluent— forgive me for any grammatical errors, I don’t think I did too badly though.)

Steven has a guilty pleasure that only he knows about and it comes in the form of a woman. Or the livestreams she has every Tuesday, of every week, to be more precise.

He wishes he could say he were a casual viewer, watching the VODs that get posted to your channel after each stream has been completed whenever he has the necessary urge.

But that wouldn’t be the truth, it was the furthest from it actually.

His real secret is that Steven tunes in every Tuesday for your morning, evening and midnight streams if he can– if his body doesn’t decide it would rather go on autopilot and venture off who-knows-where, when it feels so inclined.

He’d like to say that he was only the tiniest bit of an admirer of yours, but even that wasn’t remotely close to the truth either. The truth was that he was mere inches, feeble and miniscule centimeters, away from being flat out obsessed with even the idea of you.

From an outsider’s perspective, you were an absolute catch. Cute with beautiful hair and skin that looked so soft he couldn’t guess how it’d feel to catch the smallest of caresses of your arms or legs.

But what really reeled him in was your voice.

He liked how personable, wholesome and excitable you were while expertly starting and maintaining conversation with the chat– even when you were particularly preoccupied with the combination of the separate vibrator and dildo focused at your core; your words turning airy and distracted as you answered questions about your day.

Always generous with the small details you offered, making sure to mention the guy on the train that swooped in to steal your seat when you got up in hopes of offering it to an old woman— or how a sweet girl around your age complimented your outfit on one of the rare occasions you went out to treat yourself.

Another quirk he liked about you was how much of a home-dwelling being you seemed to be. He knew posts on your private accounts weren’t much to go off of to paint a realistic illustration of your life but from the little he could glean, you didn’t go out much if you could help it.

Preferring the relaxing amenities within the confines of your home to other people and ordering modest but nice additions to your space when you could, like furniture and functional decor. Unmistakably proving to be an unusual but interesting woman.

Pulled from the mindless scrolling on his phone, he registers the knock that sounds at the door to his flat. A phenomena that sets him on immediate guard due to how rarely it occurs that he has visitors. Never has he had anyone over.

The initial spectacle dying down when he opens the door only to find it’s just a lone mail carrier, a large cardboard box held up in his arms.

“What’s this? A package?” Steven asks curiously, not fully registering how the man’s face pales considerably as he meets his gaze, thrusting the box forward into his arms.

“Wha– Hang on a sec.” But the carrier is already departing without so much as a passing word, darting towards the stairwell as though he were running from a bully. “But I didn’t order anything. Did I?”

Brewing on the thought for a moment longer, he pulls the door closed behind himself, haphazardly locking it.

His only current priority being to open this box which could finally clue him in on what on earth his body got up to when he wasn’t in control of it. Because this could be it, maybe it was clothes? Equipment, or books? He could find out a lot depending on the kind of books that were tucked away inside this cardboard prison.

Except as he tears the tape back, whipping the purple packaging tissue from out of the way, he’s met with the visage of seven custom made dildos. Literal silicone molded dildos, not unlike the small business you promoted on your platforms.

They came in a wide array of vivid color combinations, girths and sizes– the most alarming being the sixteen inch otherworldly dong that he could just barely wrap his hand around.

This was what he got up to? He was fairly certain no one on the planet, no matter how professional or adept they proved to be, could fit such a horrifying monstrosity inside any orifice on their person, when yet another knock resounds from the door and he practically jumps out of his skin.

Throwing the object back into the box and covering it with the decorative paper before moving to answer the door yet again.

Prepared to scream at the next carrier rather frightfully until they got the message that he would not be accepting any more packages for the foreseeable future.

“No packages.” He whisper-shouts to himself as he approaches the door. “No more bloody packages!”

Only, the last person he expects to find standing at the foot of his doorstep, looking off in the direction of the stairway with arms folded as a meager attempt to generate warmth in the chilly hallway, was you.

He freezes instantly, eyes bucking as his mouth hangs ajar, not far, but just enough to make him look like a dork if you were paying any attention in that moment.

Recognizing his presence, you look up, your countenance livening considerably, in a way he’s never been able to see before when the both of you were separated by a screen on either side.

“Hey! I just heard the mail guy leave. He dropped off my recent order, yeah?” You ask, eyes sparkling with poorly concealed affection for… him?

He can’t help but stand there dumbly in your presence, his brain still lagging lightyears behind the developments of this interaction.

“Y- Yeah.” He manages after a pause too long.

“And he didn’t give you any trouble, did he?” You continue to question, slinking past him and into his flat like you’re familiar with the layout. Deftly maneuvering past all the chaotic mess as though you’d been here before.

“Uh, he didn’t give me any problems. But now that I think about it, the look of pure terror he had when he saw me was odd.” Steven muses, recalling the way the man flashed white as a sheet before tearing tail.

“Not that I thought he would after the first time, remember? You had him running down the hall with his tail between his legs with just a look.” You laugh melodically and he swears he swoons at the sound as he finally closes the door.

“You opened it?” He suddenly hears you pipe up from further inside which causes him to startle. You’re standing in front of the dark wooden table where he’d left the box open and flimsily covered with the tissue paper.

“Uh, yeah.” He nods, daring to walk closer. “I didn’t know what was in it. Thought maybe I’d ordered it while I was um… asleep. Or something like that.”

When you turn to face him, you have the largest of the fantastical appendages in a vice grip which in any other circumstance he’d find rather comical. The angry tip dipping and bobbing over your closed hand, the golden yellow glitter weaves up from the base in objectively pretty swirls and loops.

“Uh-huh.” You answer with a conspiratory smirk, your expression reading in an amused kind of way as you set the toy back down. “Didn’t get enough of a look with the first box you saw, huh?”

Steven gawks in disbelief, “H- Hang on, the first box? You mean to say that I’ve accepted your packages before? As in plural? This isn’t the first one?”

This course of questioning causes you to survey him for the first time since you’d entered. Gaze drifting from his hair to his hands purposefully, before settling back on his eyes. His feet shuffling in place awkwardly when you don’t answer, instead your brows raised as you scrutinize him.

“Today was a bit of a long day so I didn’t realize it earlier, but what’s with the accent? Taking the piss, are we?” You questioned, walking up to him with playfully narrowed eyes and a finger pointed at his chest, poking at him repeatedly. “Think you’re funny mocking the way Brits talk?”

“I’m,” He gently grasps your hand to move it away so he could rub at the offended area. “I’m not taking the piss. This is how I talk.”

“No, it’s not.” You state resolutely, as though you were waiting for him to finally concede but when it becomes clear he won’t, you look at him strangely.

“It’s not?” He asks, expression reading pure confusion.

“No. You’ve always spoken in an American sort of way, like they do in the movies? What was it again? Boston? Something with a ‘B’.”

“Brooklyn?” He adds quietly, just a guess but suddenly he’s feeling wary. And you nod eagerly, clapping your hands and snapping at him when he gets the word you’d been searching your recollection for.

“Yeah! It was a Brooklyn accent, I think!” –but when he yet again doesn’t share in your revelry, your demeanor simpers, giving him yet another once-over like something would click and you’d finally figure out what was off.

“You don’t remember. Do you?”

“I… I wish that I could. I really do, but my name is Steven. Steven Grant. I’m pretty sure I’m not who you’ve been interacting with. Like my body is the same, but I’m not.” –you slump into the wooden chair at your side, quiet and introspective.

“You know? If I were literally anyone else, I’d have half the mind to come to the conclusion that you’re doing all this as some fucked up scheme to get me to leave you alone. I mean my friends would call me naive for even attempting to believe any of,” and you gestures at his person vaguely with outstretched hands. “---this!”

“I’m not faking.” He insists, forgetting his previous shyness and moving to kneel in front of you to look into your eyes. “I wouldn’t, I would never play some cruel game to get you to leave me alone. I mean it.”

And as your hands move to seek out his own, smaller and softer than he could have ever imagined, he inwardly notes that you truly are as beautiful as he’d believed you to be in person. Even now with the pouted lips and the furrowed tilt in your brows that seems to say that you’d want nothing more than to ignore your better judgment and indulge him.

“Okay. I’ll believe you for now, Steven Grant.”

Glancing down at your intertwined hands, he asks what he’s been the most curious to know the answer to. “I’m not missing any context to something important that happened between us though, am I?”

He finds that your eyes are darkened and deep, unshakenly holding his gaze in the silence and there's a brief moment where he thinks maybe, maybe there’s more to this. To his connection to you, but then you’re shaking your head negatively and the words, “No. There isn’t.” –fall from your lips and he accepts it with a nod.

ii. Before.

Today has been a long day spent fronting. Long enough that uncharacteristically, all Jake wants to do is collapse into bed and sleep the remainder of the daylight hours away.

His body sags against the dark wall of the lift, his breathing even as he pushes himself up just as the bell chimes to indicate he’s reached the fifth floor.

The metal door slides open to reveal the familiar cool dark tones of the unnecessarily cold hallway, his feet meeting the floor in long strides but three steps in, his ears are met with a shrill squeal as one of the doors pushes open from the inside and a woman darts out into the hall from her flat.

Panting heavily, you pace in a circle attempting to regain your composure.

Fluffy, white ankle length socks with pastel pink horizontal stripes adorn your feet. His eyes settle on the matching oversized hooded sweater dress you’re wearing, the bear ears on the hood and puffball tail placed at your bottom catching most of his attention.

Your eyes dart over to him in alarm before sharply turning away when you realize he’s already looking at you as he makes his way to Steven’s door, the silver key glinting in his gloved hand as he nods at you in acknowledgement.

Momentarily he wonders when such a unique person became their neighbor directly across the hall from them, but just as he begins pushing into his own dwelling, you speak up promptly; voice nervous and unsure.

“Um! Excuse me?” You call out suddenly, causing him to turn around slowly. His brows raised in question.

“Que es, bella?” His voice is gruffer than you’d expected, having a particularly deep, husky aspect that makes you want to take a moment to marvel at it, if you'd had the time.

“I know this is an extraordinarily strange ask, but the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my entire life has crawled itself out of hell and into my flat?”

“You want me to kill it?”

“You don’t have to if you’re like.. uncomfortable with that sort of thing? I could give you something to trap it inside of. I honestly don’t care how you do it, just as long as it’s out, I’d really appreciate it.”

He peered at you for a moment, his eyes sliding off of you and focusing elsewhere before offering a singular nod of his head. Closing Steven’s door with a firm click. “I can do that.”

His hand reached for your doorknob, halting in his motion to open it as you grab one of his shoulders, quickly retracting it when he paused in his steps, slowly turning his head to look at it before his eyes slice up to your face.

“I’m sorry! I just, I just feel like I have to warn you that I didn’t… clean up before I ran out.”

“That’s fine.” He replies in a murmur, narrowing his eyes at the way you bring a hand to your face anxiously, waiting for your consent to proceed. “I’m not squeamish.”

“Okay.” You whisper, dropping your hands to your sides. Your head bobbing repeatedly as you nod, as though you were trying to convince yourself more than anything else.

“Okay.” He parrots, looking at you cautiously.

“Okay.” You agree, waving him off and finally he pushes inside.

Jake will be honest with himself and admit that the last sight he was expecting to be met with was a video streaming setup.

Tripod and camera, laptop open with a small arsenal of dildos, vibrators and a singular bottle of lube lined neatly along the end table.

He slowly turns his head to look over his left shoulder, only to find you standing in the threshold of your flat with your hands shielding your face.

Your fingers cracking small slivers for you to peek back at him nervously, the digits widening as you attempt to defend what was left of your dignity in this situation. “Normally, I’d be mortified but you can’t say I didn’t try to warn you!”

“Not well enough.” He remarks with raised brows and lips pressed into a line.

“You said you weren’t squeamish!” You rebuttal, voice raised high and cheeks flushed from embarrassment. “Look, it's over there alright? Can you get it, please?”

“No te pongas histérica, chula. I told you I would, even if it looks like you raided a sex shop in here.” He jokes dryly, causing a loud groan to bubble up from your throat.

He locates the intruding arachnid with ease, all six inches of absolute spindly terror, as it tries to hide in an open corner.

What shocks you, and hell’s latest escaped convict, is how he extends one of his leather gloved hands and simply scoops it up.

The man promptly proceeding to walk over to the closest window, open it and toss the hairy lump into the street to be someone else’s problem at a later hour.

“You should keep these locked by the way.” He calmly advises, closing the window and flipping the latch with ease before he turns. Offering a final lax wink your way before exiting without another word.

iii.

The website had advertised ‘sleek and discrete packaging’, so why did you open your door to find the mail carrier holding a relatively large box with the image of an oversized, pulsating vibrator brandished front and center on the front.

The words ‘Ultimate Thrusting Clit Stimulate–Her’ are clear and easy to read in the bottom right corner.

The warm wash of embarrassment sets in from head to toe as you realize your predicament. The debacle seeming to worsen as the man takes this as the perfect opportunity not only to flirt, but flat out proposition you.

“I’m not a call-girl.” You say lowly, eyes burning with hatred as he took every indicator to leave you alone as ammunition to persist.

“I’m not saying you are, lovely. Just figured you’d want a change of equipment is all. The real thing has got to be better than the artificial.” He states smugly, his face lined with a crooked toothed grin, everything about him coming off as slimy and gross.

“Eres tan feo que haces llorar a las cebollas.” Sounds in a familiar tenor and then suddenly, there stands your neighbor from across the hall. His capped head hung tilted towards the man as he pinned him with an icy glare so sharp that even you’re put on edge.

If looks had the power to kill, this guy would have already been speaking to his maker.

“Uh. She with you, man?”

“You could say that.” Your two time savior slips the box from the carrier’s hands, looking over the garish photo of the toy with an bemused expression.

His dark brows shooting upwards and coming back to rest as his eyes glide over to you, trying and failing not to grimace at him.

His calm look wordlessly communicated the thought both of you seemed to be simultaneously contemplating. ‘Why is it always you that I find with sex toys?’ —which causes you to grumble irritably just as his attention turns back towards the carrier.

“What are you still here for?” He asks the guy, eyes darkening purposefully.

“Right!” Remembering his ability to walk, he vacates the area with a certain swiftness. Both of you watching in disdainful silence as he beelines for the stairs instead of the lift, disappearing behind the heavy door that slams shut noisily behind him.

“No le hagas caso. Es un idiota.” He finally says softly, handing the box over to you.

“Thanks.” You reply back rather meekly, fiddling with the folded corners of the cardboard as he offers a curt nod before pointing to it.

“I’m genuinely curious, are you building a collection? Like a toy collector, or something?”

“No!” You quickly defend, causing his brows to rise. “They’re for my job, if you must know.”

“Sounds like a fun gig.” He remarks breezily, his lips pursed to the side appreciatively. It wasn’t judgmental or condescending in any sort of way, just honest, and you’re taken aback at his lackadaisical sort of reaction.

Here was the first person you ever confessed to about what field you made a living in, and he was reacting as if you’d said you made money from selling custom jewelry or taught the elderly how to paint.

“I’m a cam girl.” You clarify unnecessarily, feeling the need to test him further.

“Why tell me?” He asks with a nonchalant jerk of his chin, receiving a weak shrug in return.

“I don’t know. I mean you helped me out twice now, and both times you’ve come face to face with my... work equipment. I thought you at least deserved some context so you wouldn’t just assume your neighbor is some sex-crazed freak with an obsession.”

“You can be interested in whatever you want. What I, or any other fucker thinks shouldn’t amount to jack shit in comparison.”

You nod mutely, “Right. You’re right.” But when he turns to leave, you speak up again. “Uh! Would you— Would you like to come in? I’ve got all kinds of drinks and snacks... and stuff. Y’know as a way to repay you? For helping me out.”

“Is this some code way to trick me into having a tea party with you and your toys?” He asks in a blank, suspicious tone that causes you to laugh even though anyone else most likely would’ve been offended.

“No! It’s just a normal invitation to have a normal drink!”

“Shame.” He says with a shrug of his shoulders, walking into your apartment. “Would’ve been one for the books.”

Que es, bella? — What is it, beautiful?

No te pongas histérica, chula. - Don’t get hysterical, pretty. (‘chula’ is the word you’d use if you find someone cute/adorable/pretty in a non-romantic or sexual context.)

Eres tan feo que haces llorar a las cebollas. — You’re so ugly you make onions cry.

No le hagas caso. Es un idiota. — Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot.